Second Genesis

’Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’

He was already running low on stamina. He couldn’t just hop into another battle, certainly not with the sort of powerhouses that were Holy Knights.

"Why the hell is he still a Holy Knight if he blasphemed the Goddess?" Grey shook Silva for an answer.

"Powerful... powerful... he is... he is the disgraced son... of an Earl. He was sent here to let the commotion of his actions settle down. It’s easily swept under the rug here because our Bishop is both corrupt and not very powerful. He can be swayed with money and material things."

"So does that mean no one knows what he’s done?"

"Only the Baron knows."

"HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!" A booming voice nearly knocked Grey off his feet. The momentum of it alone was so powerful. It was hard to tell if that was because Grey was so tired, or if there was another reason, but whatever it was, the ultimate conclusion was that these weren’t people he could fight.

"Quickly. Does the Baron have a Holy Frame method in his possession? SPEAK."

Grey picked Silva up by his collar, not caring that it meant the latter had his body glide up a pair of blades.

Silva frowned. "These are the secrets of the Baron, how can I know."

"Shit. Fuck."

Grey’s head spun. This information was useless to him if he couldn’t disseminate it properly. If it was so easy to handle this, Baron Giyoto would have done all of this already.

Wait, that wasn’t necessarily true. Giyoto’s goals probably had little to do with Terran himself. The way the butler was speaking, Grey could practically feel his hatred seething when he spoke of the Bishop. In that case, the main problem was probably the Bishop.

That must be why Silva was so guarded about the secret. If Baron Giyoto wanted to take down the Bishop, he had to keep his cards close to the vest.

But then why was it that Silva had even let it slip that there was a problem with Terran at all? Silva didn’t seem like the type to skate away from something his master wanted to do. Like Grey had said, he was the perfect lapdog, even if it meant hiding some of the most important parts of himself.

To Grey, Silva was the most obvious case of impostor syndrome he had ever seen. He didn’t care normally, his problem was when Silva stood in his way because of it.

All this was to say that the only reason Silva would bring it up was if it was helpful to the Baron. But if the Baron wanted him to use that information to take out Terran, then why would he need to hide so much of the reason? Why wouldn’t he be more straight up?

Streams of crimson came from Grey’s head as his perception became faster and faster. He was practically trying to run his brain into the ground before these Holy Knights skewered him through.

—

[Lv. 2 Crimson Cognition > Lv. 3 Crimson Cognition]

—

There was something he was still missing.

’... Baron Giyoto is expecting me to be unhinged. In fact, he’s hoping that I am so he has plausible deniability. He just underestimated how unhinged I’m willing to be.

’It’s perfect for him. Everyone already knows that I have beef with Terran after what happened with Globb, and everyone also knows that the Baron has a close relationship with Globb. The Bishop wouldn’t realize the Baron is trying to gather evidence of his corruption because the entire time he would think that we were entirely focused on Terran. I certainly would be. But Giyoto would not be.

’Baron Giyoto didn’t care if Grey went crazy because that was exactly what he was hoping for. In fact, Globb’s death might be something he was looking to take advantage of. It was no wonder he was walking around with such guilt. Maybe he hadn’t planned such a thing because he couldn’t, but he was certainly taking advantage of a friend’s misfortune.

’But there is one layer deeper to all of this. If Giyoto trusted Silva with this information, why wouldn’t he trust him with whether he had a Holy Frame available to him or not? The reason was obvious as well. Giyoto was using Silva as well.’

Pain suddenly awoke Grey out of his thoughts. He looked around to find that he had been run through by four spears at once, pincered from every direction.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body nearly keeling over. But his grip on Silva remained.

"Does the Baron... have a secret vault with items you—."

BANG.

Something smashed against Grey’s head. He only barely managed to hear one more thing before his mind went black.

"Yes..."

**

A splitting headache tore Grey awake. He clutched at his head, trying to make it stop. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Had he had a headache the first time he went through this? Was it the loop?

He hadn’t gotten headaches during his first several times he did this, why now? Was it because it was in such quick succession? Was it something else?

’Dammit. Just my luck. One more problem to deal with.’

The headache slowly faded away and Grey took a deep breath and exhaled. But when he brought his palms down from his head, his pupils constricted as he looked at what was in his hands, seeping between his fingers.

Grey rushed to the bathroom. Obviously, the mirror was intact once again. But all he could see was the blood drizzling down his nose and out from his ears. He looked down at his blood soaked hands as the crimson liquid dripped down to the ground below.

He inhaled deep breaths, a hollowness ringing in his ears.

For a long while, he could barely even hear his own breaths, and then it was like he had put on a pair of noise cancelling head phones. At that point, all he could hear was his breath and heart.

What was wrong with him?